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Indepth Arts News:
"Ordinary Alchemy: Cassandra Tondro and Christina Yocca"
2008-05-09 until 2008-06-07
Translations Gallery
Denver, CO,
USA United States of America
In the exhibition “Ordinary Alchemy” artists Cassandra Tondro and Christina Yocca transform ordinary materials into their artwork. Tondro uses Home Depot’s “Oops!” latex paint in her paintings, and Yocca incorporates organic materials into her sculptures, including branches, clay, and fibers. The exhibition opens at Denver’s Translations Gallery in May 2008. “Oops!” is a line of house paints that were incorrectly mixed, rejected by the buyer, or simply left behind and are offered at a discounted price. “Everyday the Oops! shelves are full – a whole new palette of colors and finishes to choose from,” says Tondro. “Sometimes the selection is insipid, and other times it is wildly extravagant with colors like hot pink, black, and metallic silver. With the Oops! paintings, I am reclaiming that which has been rejected. I take the mistakes, and through alchemy, transform them into gold.” Cassandra Tondro has been a Premiere Portfolio Artist at absolutearts.com since 2004.
Inspired by nature, Yocca borrows building techniques from past cultures and the contemporary natural building movement to form vessels and wall pieces. Her work derives color from Earth clays that she purchases or digs locally. “I use down-to-earth materials, agricultural byproducts, and the dregs of the land”, explains Yocca. “Chopping, mixing, and pressing, I transform them into sensuous membranes for organic forms. While my alchemy may not bring a universal cure for global warming, it respects the environment. All my materials can return to the earth.”
Cassandra Tondro’s paintings have been featured in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States including the Dennos Museum in Traverse City, Michigan; The Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago, Illinois; the Maude Kerns Art Center in Eugene, Oregon; Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas; and LKG Contemporary in Scottsdale, Arizona. In California she has exhibited at numerous venues including the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art in Malibu, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Art Rental and Sales Gallery in Los Angeles, Angels Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro, Don O’Melveny Gallery in Los Angeles, Topanga Canyon Gallery in Topanga, I-5 Gallery in Los Angeles, and ArtAmo Gallery in Santa Barbara. Tondro’s work is in public, corporate and private collections, including those of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in Englewood, New Jersey; JEG Diversified Healthcare, Inc. in Woodland Hills, California; Ratkovich Company, Inc. in Los Angeles, California; and Stone Manners Talent and Literary Agency in Los Angeles, California. In addition, her work was selected for the American Embassy in Yaounde, Cameroon in conjunction with the Art in Embassies Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
Christina Yocca has received commissions for site-specific works from The City of Philadelphia; the Fairmount Park Commission, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the Cheltenham Art Centre; The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; Muriel and Philip I. Berman; and Quad City Arts, Rock Island, Illinois. She is the recipient of grants from the Midwest New Partnership, the Ruth Chenven Foundation, Inc., and the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. She received an MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From 1987 until 1995, she taught in the Art Department at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, heading the fibers program. She currently serves as a mentor through the Mentor Program at the Textile Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
View more of Cassandra Tondro's work in her absolutearts.com Portfolio http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/c/cassietondro/
IMAGE
Artist: Cassandra Tondro
Title: Shazaam
Year Created: 2008
Medium: Painting Other
Width: 30 inches
Height: 24 inches
Price: US$ 1800
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